Sea Bass and Fluke

Fished Friday on Cape May Reef with Dusty L, John, and Steve. We
caught a bunch of sea bass and fluke. Mostly shorts and a few keepers.
Lots of fun and a beautiful day.

Nighttime Stripers on the Fly

Fished tonight to take advantage of a perfect high tide. The stripers
were very happy and I released around a dozen on the fly. Wore out the
clouser I was using. The fish were schoolies to around 26 inches. This
action will be repeatable and consistent on the right tides throughout
the summer. Great opportunity for the beginner or advanced flyrodder.
I left em biting to get some sleep.

Sharks!

Went solo today to see if the inshore sharking bite had begun. It has
and the sharks are here in force. Had a great day releasing 9 dusky
sharks to about 50 pounds. Had two double headers. Got both fish on
the first and went one for two on the second. I also had several other
bites and three breakoffs. The event of the day however was a bigger
shark that hit and swam right to the boat. It didn't even know it was
hooked and I got a real good look at it right next to the boat. It was
grey black on top and bright white on the bottom. Hard edge between
the dark and light. It was a five foot baby great white. Once it
realized it was hooked it gave me the fin and high tailed it outta
there. I did not have a shot with the light spinning rod I was using
and he broke me off. Pretty cool to see though. If you are interested
in big fish during the day and a short ride then inshore sharking is
for you. Catch and release only. Note the bottom two pics. This shark
had fresh bite marks from his buddy during the fight.

Summertime Options

Some cool options for summertime charters. First, nighttime striper
trips are a neat option for the flyrodder. These trips frequently
involve sight fishing under bridges for bass and blues. Inshore
sharking provides a great near shore option for people wanting to pull
on big fish close to shore. We catch brown and dusky sharks on light
spinning rods and on the fly. These sharks range from ten to sixty
pounds on average. Flounder fishing has been fantastic this year with
lots if action. This is a great trip for families. Offshore tuna
action has been good on the troll. The offshore fishing will get
better and better all summer. Flyrodders can target mahi mahi on the
fly on these trips. The action can be great. Stripers should continue
to bite on the high tides at dawn and dusk on poppers. Give me a call
to discuss the possibilities.

Captain Joe Hughes
IGFA Certified
Jersey Cape Guide Service
www.gibsonstackle.com
609-827-3442

Tough Evening

Fished last night with Rick M and his two sons. We were flyfishing for
stripers. Despite being excellent casters and fishing a good tide, we
struggled finding cooperative fish. We ended up without a bite all
evening. The heat may have the bass off the feed temporarily. Might
have to chase them at night.

Captain Joe Hughes
IGFA Certified
Jersey Cape Guide Service
www.gibsonstackle.com
609-827-3442

Mud Slam

Fished with Dave and family today. We had over thirty flounder with
one keeper. Great action with bent rods. We also had two giant
dogsharks on clams. One of the two sharks was almost five feet. We
rounded out our mud slam with two sea robins and an oystercracker.
Bent rods are a reflection of anglers smiles. We bent a lot of rods
today.

Blues and Fluke

Fished with Betsy M and her grandson Jack. We started out catching
some flounder and moved onto the flats with the tide. We had a pop up
blitz of blues and immediately had a double header on poppers. The
blitz disappeared as fast as it started. We moved to another flat
where we missed three striper bites on poppers. Beautiful evening.